Aircraft Piloting Interface With Limited Commands for Urban Air Taxis
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Solution Overview
Problem
The development of fleets of air taxi-type vehicles with current aircraft piloting rules requires a high number of qualified pilots, and the complete automation of piloting without human intervention in urban environments is challenging due to safety concerns and the risk of collision.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft piloting system with a control system configured to operate flight controls according to a pre-programmed trajectory, featuring a limited man-machine interface that allows only a predetermined set of piloting commands, reducing the need for extensive pilot training and enabling reduced human intervention, with an automatic pilot system and anti-collision detection, navigation, and communication systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current aircraft piloting rules are applied to air taxi fleets, then operational safety can be maintained with qualified pilots, but the requirement for a very large number of pilots makes fleet development highly unlikely and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft piloting system enables the aircraft to perform piloting operations autonomously through an on-board autopilot that executes pre-programmed flight trajectories. The system includes navigation systems, anti-collision detection systems, and automated control mechanisms that allow the aircraft to navigate, avoid obstacles, and return to predetermined trajectories without continuous human intervention, thereby eliminating the need for large numbers of qualified pilots while maintaining safety
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human pilots manually controlling aircraft with an automated electronic piloting system. The control system uses electronic autopilot technology, navigation systems, and automated collision avoidance mechanisms to substitute human piloting operations, thereby reducing the complexity associated with training and managing large numbers of pilots
2Device complexity
If fully automated piloting without human intervention is implemented, then the need for pilots is reduced, but safety concerns and collision risks in urban environments make this difficult to envision
Solution Approach 1:
The piloting system incorporates continuous feedback mechanisms through navigation systems that monitor the aircraft's position and compare it with the pre-programmed flight trajectory, and anti-collision detection systems that continuously scan the environment for obstacles. This feedback enables the automated system to detect deviations and potential hazards, then automatically correct course or initiate avoidance maneuvers, ensuring safety without human intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs preliminary actions by pre-programming flight trajectories before departure and pre-establishing avoidance proposals for potential collision scenarios. The navigation system calculates optimal flight paths in advance, and the anti-collision system prepares avoidance maneuvers beforehand, allowing the aircraft to respond automatically and safely to urban environment challenges without waiting for human pilot intervention
3Ease of operation
If a limited man-machine interface with predetermined commands is used, then pilot training requirements are reduced and human intervention is minimized, but the operator has fewer control options
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex piloting control functions from the human operator interface and relocates them to the on-board autopilot system. The man-machine interface is reduced to essential commands only (such as initiating flight, requesting return to trajectory, or emergency interventions), while the autopilot handles navigation, trajectory following, and collision avoidance autonomously. This extraction simplifies the interface for operators while maintaining system versatility through automated capabilities
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention concerns an aircraft piloting system comprising a control system (4) configured to actuate flight controls (6) of the aircraft depending on a preprogrammed flight path, the control system comprising an autopilot system (8), the aircraft piloting system (2) further comprising a human/machine interface (20) comprising a control member interface (28) for control members that can be actuated by an operator in order to actuate controls and modify the flight of the aircraft. The control member interface (28) comprises a limited number of control members that can be actuated by a piloting operator, only allowing piloting controls from a predetermined set of piloting controls to be carried out.